(Use of English: pt 2 open cloze) write your answers in the boxes
With clocks going back (at least for now) and nights drawing in, some specialists are arguing that coffee bars, which provide high-strength lighting along with their lattes, might help the one 1. five people who suffers from seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a type of depression caused by lack 2. light in winter. read on
Light cafés have taken 3. in Sweden, which has nearly a million SAD sufferers and where winter gloom is a far greater problem than in the UK. Stockholm, for example, gets only five hours of daylight in the winter months. But the city’s commuters can 4. off in cafés, 5. as the Iglo, and sit bathed in UV-free lighting to the strength of 3,000 lux (the technical measure of brightness).
This intense light, which compares with the 200-500 lux emitted by domestic or office lighting, simulates natural light and 6. thought to correct the hormone imbalance that causes SAD, 7. its effectiveness has not been conclusively proved.
“In the winter, I have no motivation, I have a low mood and 8. people’s comments very personally,” says Susan Willis, who has SAD. Willis, 38, a marketing manager from Derbyshire, uses a lightbox every morning to help with symptoms. The NHS does not provide light therapy (also called phototherapy) for SAD and says that the evidence for its effectiveness is still unclear. It offers cognitive behavioural therapy and antidepressants 9..
Not 10. doctors agree: the Royal College of Psychiatrists recommends 30 minutes to one hour of light therapy daily, which some studies show is effective for 50-85 per cent of cases. Commercial lightboxes vary 11. price from £35 to £200, depending on the light intensity delivered, but 2,500 lux is the minimum needed to work. Some light devices are portable for travel or office use. SAD sufferers are also advised to spend as much time as possible outside in natural daylight and to keep active.
For Susan Willis, light cafés sound much more fun. “Imagine walking along a dark street and seeing a light café where you can also get a warm coffee. Just thinking about it 12. me smile.”
the telegraph
looking on the bright side
